The commutative property tells us that when we are adding and multiplying we can swap out numbers and the result will be the same. The word "commutative" comes from the word "commute" which means to travel around. People often are confused about the difference between the associative and commutative properties. It is true that they are very similar. The commutative property applies if elements are being reordered, if the elements are only being regrouped then the associative property applies.

These worksheets explain how to rewrite equations using the commutative properties of addition and multiplication. Instructors, note that answers will only be in the form of equations.